You Don't Know Me
by Lyralocke
Summary: Kataang, oneshot. Avatar Aang was aggravated. Everyone in the room could tell just by looking at him.


_Honestly, I couldn't pace myself if my life depended on it. But here's a oneshot. And my opinion of it? Well... I liked the idea of it, let's just leave it at that._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar  
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Avatar Aang was aggravated.

Everyone in the room could tell just by looking at him.

The Avatar was usually the single soul at the International Council meetings that wasn't grumpy, but today was different. Today he slouched in his seat, he drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair, he stared vacantly at the space of table before him. His expression was one of impatience, anxiety.

If there was one other person at the table who could match his level of distraction, it was the young waterbender in the chair beside his. Lady Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, renowned diplomat and well known partner of the Avatar, sat with her arms crossed over her chest. She never once looked in the Avatar's direction, choosing instead to keep a downcast gaze at her knees. She looked rather tense and miserable, and everyone at the table felt uncomfortable just glancing at the two of them.

So when Firelord Zuko suggested they adjourn early, nobody argued and the room cleared out almost instantly. Aang and Katara were left alone.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Katara asked quietly after a lengthy silence.

"Nothing," Aang replied automatically.

"Stupid."

Aang shook his head as though clearing from a daze. He turned and looked at her, not quite believing what he had heard, to find her watching him with raised eyebrows.

"What?"

"You're being stupid," Katara replied airily. "A rock could tell something is wrong with you. Didn't you notice how uncomfortable everyone was?" Aang stared blankly at her. Katara rolled her eyes. "The people at this table are the foremost political and military minds in the world, and you were sitting over here like a thunderhead, making all of them jumpy as meadow mice. What's the deal?"

"Nothing," Aang repeated his well-worn response. Katara sighed, irritated.

"Aang, you've been acting all weird in distant for days and I've let you be," she said, sounding rather tired. "But now your mood is interfering with the International Council. We've worked really hard for this to happen, Aang. Why are you acting like this?"

"I'm sorry, Katara," Aang sighed, running a hand over his tired face. "I didn't mean to mess up the Council."

"We promised that when we sat down in these chairs, we wouldn't be a couple anymore," she pressed quietly. "We would be professionals."

"I know," he exhaled heavily. "It's just… something has been on my mind lately and I can't quite get rid of it."

"Why haven't you told me?" she asked, frowning.

Aang glanced at her, appearing rather anxious again. "It's sort of hard to explain."

Katara leaned back in her chair and kicked her feet up on the table in a way strongly reminiscent of Toph. "We've got time," she said, smiling innocently.

"Yeah," Aang sighed, slumping in his chair. The Council Chamber was a large round room built of grey stone. It was built high on the ridge of the dormant volcano in which the capital city of the Fire Nation rested. The walls were mostly floor-to-ceiling windows, some views looking down into the city and some out across the ocean. There was nothing in the room but the great round table they sat at, made of the same stone as the building. The Avatar had decided that no one leader would host all of them in his or her home, therefore gaining any kind of upper hand in the proceedings. At first, he had wanted the Council Chambers to be at an Air Temple, but Katara helped him see reason. It was only easy to reach the Air Temples if you had a flying bison, and Aang happened to be in possession of the only one in existence. So the Avatar had declared that the Council Chambers be built in the Fire Nation. It was easily accessible by all, but more importantly it was suffering in the aftermath of the war. So for the sake of the economy, Aang thought it wise to bring a bunch of rich nobles into the country as often as possible.

A single door led out of the Council Chamber, opening onto a patio looking down over the city. A short way along the lone road leading down into the volcano was the Council Hall. The Hall was comprised of quarters for the Council members, where they were all undoubtedly relaxing at this moment.

All but two, anyway.

"Katara," Aang said at length, his voice carrying a weight of exhaustion. "We've been together for a couple years now."

"We have," Katara consented easily.

Aang sighed again and started drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair. "But I um… I feel like we've been… missing something…" he stammered in agitation.

Katara turned her head and directed a gaze at Aang that he didn't recognize. It terrified him to his very core, but he didn't recognize it. It was a gaze of eerie calm, a threatening, menacing sort of look.

"Aang, Avatar or not, you will not break up with me during a meeting of the International Council," she said in a chilling deadpan.

"No, no!" Aang exclaimed, quailing under her scrutiny and nearly falling out of his chair. "I'm not- I would never- I don't want to-"

Katara smirked and settled back into her seat. "Alright, go on then," she said airily.

Aang swallowed hard, waiting for his heart rate to return to normal as he slumped back into his chair. "What I mean is…" he began with some difficulty. "There are some things I think we've kind of overlooked between us."

Katara glanced at him, perplexed. "Overlooked? What do you mean?"

"We started off kind of weird as a couple, didn't we?" Aang frowned at her as he continued. "I mean… I was in love with you on day one." Katara grinned. "But we were stuck until the war was over. You knew that better than I did…" She blushed a little, embarrassed. "Once the war was over, though, we had been waiting so long that we kind of rushed into a relationship."

Katara laughed a little. "Rushed? Aang, you were twelve. I had to convince you that it was okay to kiss me most days."

Aang smiled fondly. "True, but that's not what I meant. We were just suddenly a couple, no questions asked." He paused thoughtfully. "But I think there were some questions we should have asked." Katara didn't respond, so he went on. "If you think about it, we really don't know a lot about each other."

Katara frowned. "Don't know each other?" she repeated. He nodded. "You think I don't know you?"

"Not exactly," Aang replied uncomfortably. "I just think there are some things we don't know about each other that we should. We've been so busy rebuilding, so caught up with the rest of the world…" He struggled to find the right words before sitting up and turning toward her. "I don't even know you're birthday!"

Katara seemed surprised by this. She sat up straighter and blinked several times, thinking hard. "Oh, gosh. I don't know yours either." She smiled sheepishly. "Mine's twelve days before winter solstice."

"Mine's on the autumnal equinox."

"That's easy to remember."

They looked at each other for several long moments, both wondering who exactly was looking back.

"I guess… you don't know me at all," Katara said quietly, a laughing tone to her voice. "Well um… what do you want to know?"

Aang grinned at her. She smiled back. "Everything," he said. "Tell me everything."

So Katara told him her story. Her favorite food, color, time of year, her fondest memories, her dreams when she was a little girl, her relationship with her parents, her great-great-grandmother who was her namesake, everything she could think of.

"Okay," she said at last. "Your turn."

So Aang told her his story. His best friend before the war, his unorthodox childhood as a monk, his favorite games, food, kinds of clouds, the tales Gyatso told him, his hopes when he was a little boy, the day he met Appa, everything that came to mind.

They sat in silence for some time after he finished. It was Katara who spoke first.

"You know, we have a lot more in common than I thought."

"What do you mean?"

Katara sighed heavily. "We're both the last of our kind," she whispered. "And we both know what it's like knowing someone died to protect us."

Aang reached over and squeezed her hand. "Well, now we're the last of our kind together."

"I don't feel like anything has changed," she said quietly. Aang glanced at her. She smiled. "I feel the same way about you. Maybe we don't need to know everything about each other to really know each other."

Aang grinned. "You're right," he nodded. "But it's still nice to know."


End file.
